Once Upon The Stars (Updated 08-22-04)

[The FryeR K]

so far so great

keep'em comin please

[Atrocities]

The story is not what you would call action packed is it? It will become so soon enough in its own way.

The best thing people can do is what all of you keep doing, telling those of us who post such stories that you enjoy our work. Thanks.

[mlmbd]

Atrocities,

The story is not what you would call action packed is it? It will become so soon enough in its own way.

There is much more to a good story than packing it full of action. You make your story very interesting. Even without being action packed. The roller coaster is thrilling. But, the bumper cars are bLast!

The best thing people can do is what all of you keep doing, telling those of us who post such stories that you enjoy our work. Thanks.

You are more than 'Welcome'!

mlmbd

[Ruatha]

Yes. It's not an all action story.
But I think it's more interesting this way.
I'm quite curious to know what will happen.
And alien technology is always exciting.

Now, If I could just find me something similar for myself under this ice outside my house... better go looking! (It's about 5mm thick though, so it better be a small spaceship)

[Atrocities]

Ruatha, I seriously think you do not want to find this.

[Atrocities]

Part XIII The Sect

The evening hours around the Capitol City were more often than not a time of relaxation for those who spend their day in the high stress environment of Pandoran politics. Senator Caparo Kordesh was no exception. He enjoyed his late night walk from the Senate Complex to the Salideen Temple. It was his time to reflect upon the day�s events and to center his Ki, ones soul and mind. He would walk the half-mile stretch each night that he was in the Capitol City enjoying the peacefulness of his solitary walk. The Salideen Temple was the only place within the Capital that a member of the Salideen religion could go and be left alone without interruption for as long as they chose to stay. As he walked along the path leading from the Senate Complex to the Temple, he could not help but enjoy the cool evening breeze that was blowing in from the ocean. Usually this time of the year, with the on set of winter, the breeze would be much colder. But tonight it was rather unseasonably warm and it was a welcome surprise for Caparo was unaccustomed to the cold and was thankful that tonight was warm.

The air was heavily scented with the aroma�s of the coming winter with the unmistakable sent of freshness that blew in off of the sea with the winter winds. Despite the warmness of the evening, Caparo shivered at the thought of enduring yet another cold winter in the Capitol city. Privately he yearned to return to his home in Kora, the southern most city on the Praetorian Continent. To be with this wife and children enjoying this time of the year together as a family should, but politics as they are, demanded his presence here in the Capitol city. He was taking his time this evening as he walked slowly along the path contemplating how the news of this day would affect the events of tomorrow. More importantly he was reflecting upon how he would tell the others that another ancient artifact had been discovered. He pondered what they would say and what they would demand be done. The responsibility would fall to Caparo to decide as the Enactor of his order. He had already made his choice, and he feared that the others would object, but the decision was his, and his alone. He had not risen to his position of Senator and head of the Secret Investigations Division (SID) without the political talents of a Pathor, and the cold ruthlessness of wild Darbok as it made its kill. No, he would not have become a powerful man without some measure of cold-blooded ruthlessness so he would stand by his decision to act before having spoken with the others.

Caparo entered the Salideen Temple and made his way to the Makcons office. He walked in and stood before a wall of books and in a subdued voice he spoke in old tongue giving the code that would open the passage before him. The bookshelf began to dissolve as if it were being dematerialized. It faded from view revealing a well-lit passageway. Caparo entered the passage without looking back. As he walked down the passage the bookshelf rematerialized and sealed the end of the passageway. Caparo made his way down to the end of the passageway into a large room. In it there stood three other men in front of a large round holo projector. The projector itself was actually rather large compared to the standard unit of the day, no wonder since it was engineered and constructed nearly six thousand years ago. Caparo approached the men who were obviously full-featured rendered holo images of other members and stepped up into the blue light of the holo emitter allowing it to softly scan his image, which was then instantly transmitted to the location of each of the three other men.
�Greetings fellow Illuminati.� He said politely.
�Greetings Enactor Caparo.� Spoke the man to Caparo�s right in a friendly tone. �What news do you bring us this day?�
Caparo smiled inwardly to himself before speaking. This was his moment, his moment to show the others how far he had come.
�The news I bring you occured about a week ago as a discovery was made by a scientific team on the Northern Victorian Glacier. I put Trax on alert and ordered him to monitor all military communications. Today, for the first time, General Green announced the discovery to the Prime Minister as a alien ship.� Caparo commented with some eagerness in his voice. �I have-.�
�This is an unfortunate turn of events!� Interrupted the man directly in front of Caparo in a raspy voice. He was an elderly man with long white hair and an equally long beard. Subadar Patheon Crow was dressed all in white with an even whiter complexion. Patheon possess a powerful presence and wields an intimidating demeanor as easily as any man would wield a weapon upon helpless victims. He was also, by far, the tallest of the four men standing just over seven feet tall. �How could you allow this Adamar?� He said as he looked at the man on Caparo�s left.

The man on Caparo�s left looked down slightly and then back up. If he harbored any feelings of shame or anger, his expression did not betray him. Adamar Meldorn was in Caparo�s mind a weak man. He was not physically weak as he was a healthy handsome middle-aged man with dark black hear and very tan skin. It was his Ki that was weak. Adamar was an advocate of peace and did not condone actions that resulted in people being harmed. He was more human than Alorian, and that sickened Caparo. How such a man could ascend to the rank of Pro Counsel within the Illuminati was an anomaly that Caparo wished he could rectify.

�You are correct Subadar, this event is unforgivable!� Replied Adamar evenly. �However, the likelihood of such an event was highly probable given the humans latest technological achievements and their ever increasing exploration of the Polar Regions.�
�Excuses are all you have to offer?� Commented Serrin, the man on Caparo�s right in a mocking tone. Serrin Grathor was about the same age and build as Caparo, but had a far more commanding presence. Caparo admired him, in fact he admired them all even Adamar to some degree, but Serrin by far the most. Next to himself, Serrin was one of the most ruthless of all of the Illuminati. When Serrin was elevated to the rank of Pro Counsel his first act some nine years ago was to mastermind the assassination of Prime Minister Avakor Reinhardt clearing the path for Senator Killian Delzoro, a pure bread Alorian and the ranking member of the Illuminati, to ascend to the office of the Prime Ministership.

Prime Minister Delzoro stalled the advancements of the Space Exploration Division (SED) and even managed to have many of the programs within the Division cut. His untimely death in a Sky Chariot accident, an assassination no doubt, caught the Illuminati off guard. They had not planned for the likelihood that he would be assassinated, and therefore were ill prepared to recover from his death. Delzoro was the Subadar of the Ruling Sect of the Illuminati and his death resulted in the promotion of Patheon to Subadar, Serrin to Acolapissa, and Adamar to Pro Counsel opening up the position of Enactor that Caparo now holds.

When he was elevated to the rank of Enactor, Caparo learned early on that in the Illuminati Ruling Sect, one had to be of powerful mind as well as body. Ones Ki could not be weak for a weak Ki would result in ones early death. Those who maintained control of their emotions and duties would be feared by those who did not. Caparo had been a member of the Ruling Sect ever since being elected to the senate some ten years ago. As the only surviving Illuminati member in the Senate, the rank and title of Enactor was his. The Enactor rank afforded him a position of power within the Illuminati accountable to no one except these other three men. Caparo understood that in order to became as powerful as he could, he would have to gain the trust and admiration of his fellow Ruling Sect members. A task that he has spent the better part of ten year achieving. As Enactor, Caparo was only three ranks away from becoming the absolute leader of the Illuminati. But in order to obtain the promotions that would lead him to the rank of Subadar he would have to eliminate Adamar and even Serrin. To that end he has plotted for the Last ten year.

�Well Adamar, what say you?� Demanded Serrin in a hostile tone. �Should we not have destroyed the ship sooner?�
�You speak as if you have forgotten that this matter was discussed the day the humans discovered the ship. And together we decided not to obliterate the site.� Commented Adamar in his customary even tone.
�That was over a week ago before the humans knew what it was they had discovered. Only two weeks ago did we order the assassination of John Lesser thier Space Exploration Division Director in order to further stall the humans efforts at space exploration and now all of that is in peril.� Replied Serrin sharply. �We should have eliminated those who made the discovery and yes obliterated that site from orbit immediately!�
�Is it not better that we too explore this find and gather information on the whereabouts of the Pandora? Or would you have it destroyed and with it any chance of finding her?� Commented Patheon in his harsh raspy voice.

�Pandora?� Caparo had never heard of this and in fact he had not even heard that the Ruling Sect had already been informed of the humans discovery. �What is Pandora and why was I not told of that you knew of this discovery?�
�You were not versed in all business of the Sect because you are only the Enactor and not privy to all knowledge of the Alorian race and the Illuminati.� Commented Patheon with a matter of fact tone that cut through Caparo like an ice razor though soft flesh. This hurt Caparo deeply. He had always thought that he was in the inner circle and was apprised of all. To find out now that he was not was disturbing and hurtful.

�I do not understand.� He stated simply in bewilderment.
Patheon looked to Adamar to explain and explain he did.
�You see Enactor Caparo, we Alorians are a race of genetically engineered humans that had evolved over an eon into a new species of human. Originally created as a slave labor race by humans nearly ten eons ago, the Alorians systematically rebelled and gain control over their human counterparts and established themselves as the great race of the known universe. Humans were reduced to a slave class and many trillions were exterminated as a precaution against rebellion.� Adamar looked saddened by this and paused briefly before continuing.

�We Alorians began a galaxy wide colonization program that resulted in the establishment of nearly three hundred worlds throughout known space. We rained supreme for nearly a thousand years until an some unknown and unbeatable force swept through our space and laid waste to our worlds.�

Caparo knew that the Alorian race was the dominate race of Pandora, and he even knew that they had come from another world but he did not know how that came to be or that his race was originally a slave race to the humans. He shuddered inwardly at that thought as Adamar continued the story.

�Many Alorian ships did not survive the holocaust, but a few did make it. The Pandora Colony ship was one. Filled with nearly a million Alorians and human slaves along with all of our equipment, it made its way to the safety of this system, the Tycora system, only to be damaged by a meteorite within throwing distance of salvation. Within seconds nearly nine hundred thousand died from exposure to vacuum, of those who survived, only about a tenth were Alorian.� Adamar looked toward Serrin and Serrin continued the story without pause as if he had rehearsed spoke it for many years.

�The Alorian colonist and the Overseers of the human slaves had no desire to die when the Pandora entered the atmosphere of the planet and burned up. So they put the ship under the control of its AI, and left the humans to die as they abandoned the ship in life pods. The Alorians expected to be the soul survivors of this event, but were horrified when the Pandora broke through the atmosphere of the planet hours later and safely crash-landed. Later we discovered that the humans in an ironic twist of fait name this world Pandora after the doomed slave ship that had brought them here.� Serrin was obviously disgusted by this and it was evident, but what could one do, the humans out numbered the Alorians ten to one and in order to survive they, the Alorians, had to accept the humans and their culture.

�The rest is history that you already know.� Commented Patheon. �The humans were a primitive people and had little resources available to them. The Pandora was abandoned and long since forgotten. Over the years many have discovered artifacts either from our escape pods or from peaces of the Pandora her self but no one has ever found the Pandora.� Caparo had never heard this before. He understood the history of his people that is to say the taught history, that every pure bread Alorian had been trained to believe in since childhood, but this, this was all new to him.

�Prior to our colonization of this system, our forces constructed a series of defensive satellites in the orbit of all of the habitable planet of this system. With all of the asteroid activity within this system it seemed that a protective satellite network was the perfect way to defend a planet from rogue asteroids. We have maintained control of this planets satellite network since entering the system some six thousand years ago. Over the years many of the satellites have gone off line or have been destroyed. It was satellite failure some four thousand years ago that resulted in the near destruction of this world. A failure that was not entirely accidental. You see, four thousand years ago this planet was on the verge of being invaded when the defensive satellites obliterated all but one of the invading ships. That ship penetrated our atmosphere and crash-landed. Its location was never determined given the fact that we had lost all but two of our satellites in the defense of the planet. We did not know who the invaders were, or how they happened to find this planet until just prior to the asteroid strike. This system is so far removed that the likelihood that some race would stumble upon us was remote at best. We theorized that the attackers had honed in upon the Pandora�s emergency beacon. That it was the Pandora herself that lead them to our world. We had hoped that we could find the Pandora, deactivate here bacon, repair her, and leave this planet to colonize one of the other habitable worlds of this system, when one of the remaining two satellites failed allowing an asteroid to penetrate the planet and strike our continent.� Serrin paused momentarily and looked upward before continuing. �Our race as a whole was nearly wiped out in the days that followed that cataclysm.� In all the time that Caparo had known Serrin he had never seen him look so troubled.

�We knew once the communication was made that an object had been discovered under the ice that it could only be the invaders ship. We tasked our remain satellite in preparation to obliterate the ship when Pro Counsel Adamar suggested that we allow the humans to excavate the site so that we could access the ship and gain information on the whereabouts of the Pandora.� Commented Patheon. �We are extremely fortunate that the humans have chosen to keep the discovery classified. If today is the first day that their military has announced its discovery, then may yet still manipulate the situation to our desires.�

Serrin seemed excided by this prospect. �I will order Trax to infiltrate the site immediately and gather the computer records of that ship. It will be a glorious day for the Illuminati and the Alorian people.�

Caparo swallowed hard as he broke into a cold sweat. His desire to act alone had come back to bite him in and soon soon afterward. This was not going to be good he thought to himself. �Thank god they can not see me sweating.� he said quietly to himself.
�Trax�s orders have already been given.� He said with as little emotion as he could given the sickening feeling that was now gowing within his belly.
All three men looked at him, correction looked through him. He had for all intents and purposes given Trax an order that he should not have without consulting with them first. Even as Enactor, the proper thing to have done was consult them prior to giving any orders concerning an artifact.
�Recall him!� Commented Adamar with a bit more shock in his voice than he would have preferred. �Recall him now!�
�I can not.�
�You fool!� Commented Serrin coldly. �How dare you give such and order to one of the Assassin Guild without consulting us first!�
�The order was his to give as Enactor.� Said Patheon flatly. �He does not have to consult us prior to giving such and order, it is only a courtesy. It is the standing order that all artifacts be collected or destroyed and those who discover them be eliminated.� Patheon looked at both Serrin and Adamar to calm them both before looking back at Caparo. �Send Tanix to intercept Trax and advise him to gather information prior to any containment actions. That the sight will be obliterated from orbit within five rotations regardless of the success or failure of his objective.�
�Yes Subadar.� Replied Caparo.
�And in the future, it is best that you consult with us prior to tasking any of the Assassin Guild.�
�I understand Subadar.�
�See that you do Caparo, or you will find yourself the hunted.� Serrin snapped harshly.
Caparo could only look down to hide his humiliation at having made such a mistake.
�It is not for use to blame the Enactor Serrin, for he was not made aware of our needs.� What was this thought Caparo as a wash of bile erupted into his throat. Adamar was protecting him! Caparo shivered at the thought of this weak fool standing up for him. It infuriated him on a personal level to have someone as loathsome as this weak Narvok advocating his defense.
�With respect Pro Counsel, it was my mistake to make regardless of the Sects needs or not.�
�Perhaps, but never the less, one can not plan for all contingencies if one does not have all the information.�
Caparo did not wish to continue the discussion; he simply nodded politely and looked back up at Patheon.
�I shall dispatch Tanix immediately.� With that he stepped out of the blue light of the Holo scanner and turned away from the others. He walked over to the far wall near the passage way and spoke softly.
�Tanix I have a mission for you.� Caparo waited for Tanix to respond but he did not have to wait but a few seconds.
�Orders?�
Caparo relayed the orders and then returned to the soft blue light of the Holo scanner.
�Tanix is enroute however I will have to use some of the SID officers to cover his old assignment. I will attend to that once we are concluded.�
�Very well. If Trax or Tanix communicate any findings, have them contact us all.� Commented Patheon in a tone that held a bit more sting than Caparo would have preferred to hear. Caparo looked from Serrin to Adamar then up to Patheon with no expression despite the confusion he felt.
�Forgive me Subadar, but that is uncommon.� He said with caution.
�Yes.� Replied Patheon simply then his holo image dissipated as he stepped out of view of his holo scanner leaving Caparo to star at empty space. Caparo slowly looked over at Serrin who shook his head slightly before vanishing.
�They do not trust you.� Commented Adamar politely causing Caparo to look over at him.
�You are a threat to them, and they fear you.�
�Why?�
�You command the SID and are in line to become Prime Minister in the event that Robert Benton should advocate the position.�
�This causes them fear?� Caparo could barely hold back a laugh.
�This causes them great fear. And people that they fear have a nasty habit of disappearing.� With that Adamar�s images dissipated leaving Caparo standing alone in the dark.

[ April 14, 2003, 14:52: Message edited by: Atrocities ]

[mlmbd]

Atrocities, I really like the Pandora Colony ship's survival, and the inference of Pandora to establishing a new colony! Really nice stuff!

mlmbd

[Gryphin]

"a nasty way of disspearing" ooo, I like that. Thanks for a great Monday morning read.

[Atrocities]

Thanks guys. Glad you liked it.

[Ruatha]

Yes, it was good.
But I'm more interested of what is happening up on the glacier!!!